MEXICO CITY, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Monday made a public call for clearer rule of law and more business competition in Mexico.

"The state's most important task is to ensure the rule of law, via legal means that are the source of all legitimacy," Calderon said during his speech at the Mexico Business Summit, held in Monterrey, capital of the northern Mexican state Nuevo Leon.

He also called for lower barriers to market access and fewer monopolistic practices for the sake of enhancing the nation's competitiveness.

"There will not be stronger competitiveness if there is not more competition," Calderon said.

Officials from the Mexican Competition Commission have warned of monopolistic practices in telecommunications and corn flour markets, as well as less extreme cases in milk and meat markets.

Speaking earlier at the same summit, Genaro Garcia Luna, the nation's Secretary of Public Security, said that media had overemphasized drug violence.

"Should Mexico be rated insecure it would be for theft, not for crimes related to drug trafficking," he said.

Mexican media estimated that there had been around 5,500 drug related murders in the nation, but the Mexican government said no such estimates were possible.